Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of the Kolkata hospital where a doctor was raped and murdered last month, has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI after a marathon two-week questioning session. The arrest was made in connection with the allegations of financial irregularities during his tenure, which are being investigated by the central agency alongside the rape-murder case.
Three others have been arrested along with Sandip Ghosh. Sources said they are vendors Biplav Singha and Suman Hazara, who supplied medicine to the hospital and Afsar Ali, a security guard.
As Principal of the RG Kar Medical College, where the woman doctor’s body was discovered on the morning of August 9, the role of Sandip Ghosh has been questioned by many. Even the Supreme Court had questioned why he, the head of the institution, had not lodged a First Information Report immediately.
His transfer to another hospital hours after he resigned his post under the pressure of public opinion, had caused the second shockwave, where the role of the state government had also raised eyebrows. While coming down heavily on the government, the Calcutta High Court had suggested that instead of taking up the post, Sandip Ghosh go on a long leave.
The CBI, which took over the rape-murder case after an order from the Calcutta High Court, had started questioning Sandip Ghosh from August 16. Each session lasted for 10 to 14 hours.
After the financial irregularities case was also handed to it by the High Court, the agency, on August 25, had conducted a search at his home. Late in the evening, asked if they have gathered any evidence, an official had said, “lots”. The former Principal has undergone two rounds of polygraph tests.
As protests spread, former Deputy Superintendent of RG Kar Hospital Akhtar Ali had filed an appeal in High Court, requesting that the Enforcement Directorate investigate the alleged financial misconduct.
In his appeal, Akhtar Ali had accused Sandip Ghosh of illegal sale of unclaimed corpses, trafficking of biomedical waste and passing tenders against the commission paid by medicine and medical equipment suppliers. He also alleged that students were pressured to pay anything between Rs 5 and 8 lakh to pass exams.
Sandip Ghosh has already been suspended by the Indian Medical Association. His appointment to premier Calcutta National Medical College also backfired, with the students locking him out of the Principal’s office long before the Supreme Court order.
Sandip Ghosh’s arrest has not placated Bengal’s doctors or the civil society, who have been on the warpath since the young doctor’s body was found on August 9. They have demanded thta Klkata police chief Vineet Goyal step down.
“Despite TMC govt’s attempts to destroy evidence, his (Sandip Ghosh’s) corruption and wrongdoings will soon be exposed. The people of Bengal deserve the truth, and this arrest is a crucial step towards it,” Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar has said in a video message posted on X, formerly Twitter.
